Why employees don’t use wellbeing benefits

Employers pay for support that many employees never open. The reasons are surprisingly consistent.

Five things that stop the first session

1. Time. Even valued support feels like a luxury when workload is high. ^[1]
2. Privacy. People worry about what their employer can see, especially if they have to log in. ^[1],[2]
3. Stigma. Having to explain what’s wrong stops many people before they start. ^[2]
4. Unclear benefit. If people don’t know when a tool is useful, they rarely use it. ^[3]
5. A weak launch. A licence alone doesn’t create use. ^[4]

What helps

In the EMPOWER workplace trial, uptake improved when employers explained the benefits and privacy clearly, backed the launch and gave people time to use it. Repeated logins were a frustration. ^[5]

• Give people permission to use it during work time.
• Show the first session instead of explaining it.
• Be specific about privacy.
• Tell people when it’s useful.
• Skip leaderboards and streaks.

How MindReset approaches it

Sessions take about two minutes, there’s no name or email to give and nothing to explain, and Fast Reset is there when it’s needed. Whether that works for your people is worth testing, and that’s what a pilot is for.

References

1. Employees’ perspectives on facilitators and barriers to engaging with digital mental health interventions in the workplace (JMIR Mental Health, 2018)
2. Values and preferences related to workplace mental health programmes and interventions (PLOS One, 2023)
3. Employee preference and use of employee mental health programs (JMIR Human Factors, 2025)
4. Process and effects evaluation of a digital mental health intervention with failed adoption (2016)
5. Uptake and engagement with digital mental health in the workplace: the EMPOWER trial